METRO Calgary: Stepping into the punch

October 6, 2011
By Jennifer Laraway

When you can’t think of a name for your band, what else is there to do besides rely on a random word generator circa the Internet?

That’s exactly how Cowpuncher came to be, according to founder Matt Olah, who is getting ready to release the band’s latest album Call Me When You’re Single tonight at The Republik (219 17 Ave. SW). If you haven’t heard them before, the best way to describe their sound is that it’s almost as random as their name.

Granted, I’m saying this from the perspective of a girl who loves her hip hop, but to my credit I grew up listening to the classics from all sorts of genres.

All I can say is Cowpuncher sounds like Buddy Holly had an awesome threesome with a banjo and cello.

Olah credits the unique sound to a very interesting creative process.

“We spent about four months jamming a few times a week and planning how to best approach each song prior to recording. We were knocking off three or four songs a day,” he says. “Then, we recorded it in an old church in the dead of winter. Over the course of two weeks, we were struck by this horrid flu. Each of us took a turn crawling around sick but no matter how sick we were, we still pulled ourselves together and spent about 10 hours a day recording.”

With a humorous tone, Olah insists you can hear the cold and aching on the record; however, tonight’s event is sure to be hot.

This band of six, including Scott Martin, Harley Hoeft, Ryan Kelly, Jeff Sulima, Tynan Groves, Shawn Canning and Olah definitely know how to light up a room.

After months of preparation and with their rock ‘n’ roll flare, Cowpuncher’s new songs will make you move, tip a few back, and regret that you stumbled home a few hours before you have to be back at the office. Show kicks off at 8 p.m. tonight with the $15 cover including a copy of the new CD.

The story of our band is complicated. We recruited members from some of Calgary's best outfits and tried to be the Iron Maiden of country. We got interested in rocking harder and took things in a different direction. Jeez we got to meet so many great people by doing that. You're probably one of them. Thank you for spending some time with us. Support live music and long live rock and roll. ... See MoreSee Less